Missions to Mars
Mars has historically been unfriendly to Earth’s attempts to visit it. More missions have been attempted to Mars than to any other place in the Solar System except the Moon, and about half of the attempts have failed. Some of these failures occurred because Mars was the first planet Earth attempted to explore, and the early exploration attempts taught us many lessons that have made subsequent missions more successful. But many failures have occurred relatively recently, proving again and again that space exploration is very, very difficult. But since 1996, Mars exploration has undergone a Renaissance, with data from four orbiters and four landed missions developing a revolutionary new view of Mars as an Earth-like world with a complex geologic history
Active Missions
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)
Future Mars orbiter (ISRO)
Launch: November 5, 2013
Arrival: September 2014
Sometimes referred to by the nickname "Mangalyaan," the Mars Orbiter Mission is India's first interplanetary spacecraft. It is primarily a technology demonstration mission that carries a small, 15-kilogram payload of 5 science instruments. It is scheduled to enter orbit at Mars in September 2014. The orbit will be highly elliptical, from 387 to 80,000 kilometers.
Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) (MSL)
Roving Mars (NASA)
Launch: 26 Nov 2011
Mars arrival: 6 Aug 2012
Curiosity is the next generation of rover, building on the successes of Spirit and Opportunity. It is twice as long and three times the weight of the Mars Exploration Rovers. It landed in Gale crater.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
In orbit at Mars (NASA)
Launch: August 12, 2005
Mars arrival: March 10, 2006
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is searching for evidence of past water on Mars, using the most powerful camera and spectrometer ever sent to Mars. Its cameras are also helping in the search for landing sites for future Mars rovers and landers.
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
Currently roving across Mars (NASA)
Launch: July 7, 2003
Landing: January 24, 2004
Opportunity landed in Meridiani Planum at 354.4742°E, 1.9483°S, immediately finding the hematite mineral that had been seen from space by Mars Global Surveyor. After roving more than 33 kilometers, Opportunity arrived at the 22-kilometer-diameter crater Endeavour, a target it is currently exploring.
Mars Express and Beagle 2
Currently in orbit at Mars; failed lander (ESA)
Launch: June 2, 2003
Mars arrival: December 26, 2003
Five days before its arrival Mars Express successfully pushed off the tiny, 30-kilogram Beagle 2 geochemical lander. Although it had functioned successfully throughout cruise, the lander was never heard from again. Beagle 2 may have landed too hard, the victim of an unexpectedly thin atmosphere at the time of its arrival.
Mars Express successfully entered orbit on December 26 and immediately began returning stunning, 3D, color images. Mars Express has detected surprising concentrations of methane and evidence for recent volcanism on Mars. Its radar sounder, MARSIS, was deployed late in the mission due to spacecraft safety concerns, but is functioning well.
2001 Mars Odyssey
Currently in orbit at Mars (NASA)
Launch: April 7, 2001
Mars arrival: October 24, 2001
2001 Mars Odyssey is capturing images of the Martian surface at resolutions between those of Viking and Mars Global Surveyor, and is making both daytime and nighttime observations of the surface in thermal infrared wavelengths at resolutions higher than ever before. It has detected massive deposits of water lying below Mars’ surface in near-polar regions and widespread deposits of olivine across the planet, indicating a dry past for Mars. The MARIE instrument measured the radiation environment at Mars to determine its potential impact on human explorers, and found them to be 2 to 3 times higher than expected. 2001 Mars Odyssey also serves as a communications relay for Opportunity.
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